K.G. too expensive at $60M

Before the Timberwolves traded Kevin Garnett to Boston, the all-star forward sought a $60 million, three-year contract extension from the Wolves.

"If he wanted $12 million, $12 million and $12 million instead, I would have signed him," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said Thursday.

Garnett already was signed with Minnesota for $22 million this season and $23 million next year. As part of his deal with the Celtics, he received the $60 million, three-year extension he sought, guaranteeing him, at age 31, $105 million over the next five years. Included was an $8 million up-front payment.

During a six-week period leading up to the Garnett trade, an eight-member Wolves committee met five times to discuss franchise strategy that included whether to trade Garnett. Members were Taylor, Kevin McHale, Rob Moor, Randy Wittman, Fred Hoiberg, Jim Stack, Rob Babcock and Zarko Durisic.

Moor, the team's CEO, ran the meetings. Taylor represented just one vote.

"Everyone came to the same conclusion; it wasn't a one-man decision," Taylor said. "We all pitched in and wrote viewpoints. We talked about what had happened the last three years, then where we wanted to go. We listened to Randy a lot about the type of coach he needs to be, how he would run things, and looked at options and alternatives.

"If there was going to be a trade, there would have to be draft choices, young players and there had to be (salary) cap room for the future.

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There would not be a trade unless there could be all three of those things, and there had to be a team willing to pay that."

The Celtics were willing.

"I know that this was the right decision," Taylor said.

Taylor telephoned Garnett the night before the trade was announced.

"I wanted to be the guy to tell him; I told him I understood his agent was working on a deal with Boston and that if he could get authorization, I would authorize it," he said. "I told him we were going to go younger and I just wanted to be honest with him.

"We talked and it was a little emotional, but it was positive. We wished each other the best."

At his introductory news conference in Boston, Garnett questioned what he termed loyalty to him on the part of the Wolves.

"I'm not sure what he meant by that," Taylor said. "I felt he always felt I had been loyal to him. He may have meant something else. I can't remember anything we talked about that would have been negative."

The Garnett deal might not be the last the Wolves make before the season begins.

"My guess is that we would (trade again) if we can get some deals that make sense," he said. "We've got 16 guys on the roster, so maybe we could make some two-for-one deals. Last year, we had too many small guys and not enough big guys, so my guess is yes. But we don't have anything going today."

A day after a small car driven by Taylor's granddaughter was hit in the back by another car on the I-35W bridge as it collapsed in Minneapolis, tears came to Taylor's eyes and he choked up as he talked about it. The granddaughter, Melissa, has a 3-month-old daughter.

"She's home today and there's still some shock, but she's OK," Taylor said.

The Twins' ballpark groundbreaking scheduled for Thursday evening until the bridge collapse is expected to be postponed for at least two weeks.

Hastings Country Club pro Brad Schmierer is paired with veteran tour pros Hale Irwin and Bruce Lietzke in today's first round of the 3M Championship at the TPC of the Twin Cities in Blaine.

"I will be a little intimidated," Schmierer, 54, said.

Austin, Minn., native Jon Chaffee, 51, has made about $20,000 in three events on the Champions Tour and is confident he can make a living in competitive golf. If he doesn't earn $75,000 on the senior tour this year, he plans to return to qualifying school. Meanwhile, he's the teaching pro at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Troy Burne club pro Dave Tentis, 45, who played in the 1984 Masters at Augusta, said he might try the Champions Tour in five years.

Charley Walters' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at cwalters@pioneerpress.com.

DON'T PRINT THAT

Gophers men's basketball coach Tubby Smith acknowledged Thursday for the first time publicly that it appears unlikely that Bryce Webster will return to the team. Smith plans to meet again with the 6-10 sophomore center to try to persuade him to stay.

New Senior British Open champion Tom Watson was asked Thursday if his marriage to the former wife of another Champions Tour player, Denis Watson, who also is competing in the 3M Championship, was too personal a topic to discuss.

"Yes; it's nobody's business," Tom Watson said.

Pssst: Golf legend Lee Trevino will play in a private corporate pro-am at the TPC on Monday, a day after the 3M Championship, for a $50,000 stipend.

Kirby Puckett, the late hall of fame former Twin, was gracious with autograph requests. ExTimberwolf Kevin Garnett was the opposite.

OVERHEARD

Flip Saunders, who has two years left on his Detroit Pistons coaching contract and was the people's choice to return to his alma mater to coach the Gophers before Tubby Smith was hired from Kentucky last spring, on Smith: "He'll do a great job for Minnesota. The tough thing for me was the timing. If your (NBA) team is good, you're going to be playing (in late spring), and it's tough to leave in midstream."